Sorting apparatus



Filed Jan. 12, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 25, 1923. 1,468,804

W. A. (JONTANT SORTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 12, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i W TL INVENTOR M ZQAM ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 25,1923.

.UE' s WILLIAM A. commence. or'nocnnsrnn, NEW YORK, essronon we r. 12, mass CQM- ANYQ F.noonnsrnmnnw YOBIQA oonrone'r on crusty roan.

soar ng; APPARATUS, j T. 1

Application filed January 1-2; 1922, @Serial No. 528,855.

TorzZZ whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, WILLIAM Agfloirrnlsr,

' a citizenofthe United States, and:resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and ,State of New York, have invented certain new and useful ininrovements n Sorting Apparat-us, of which 'the following is a specification.

The present; invention relates to a sortingapparatus and more particularly to the typein which-the articles to be sorted are rnoved along a path, in order to :beinspected, and- [the undesirable ones removed from the sorter by hand Anobjectofthisinvention is to provide an. apparatus which wlll ele vate to a desired level they articles to be sorted, and thereafter agitate the articles so that all sides thereof will be presented for inspection. .Another object of the invent on is. to provide an endless sorting conveyor which has an elevating portionand anI nspecting portion, the conveyor employing rollers which do not rotate on the elevating portionbut which are caused to rotate the inspecting portion.-

To these and other ends, consists of certain parts and comb nat ons of parts all of which will be hereinafter dee scribed, the, novel features being pointed out in the appended claims.

- 7 In the drawings t.- I

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a sorting machineconstructed'in accordance with this invention; 4

trated inFig. l;

Fig. 4C is a detail view of the conveyor Fig. 5- is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the inspecting portion ofthe' conveyor; v Fig. 6 188.31 enlarged verticalsectlon on;

the'line 6-6, Fig.1; p

Fig. 7 is a section on theline'T-7, Fig. 5 Fig. 8 is a section on the lined-8, Fig.

5; and

Fig, 9 is a section on the line 99,'F'ig. In the illustrated embodimentoi the in-,

vention there is employed a main frame 1 on which. the end-less :conveyoris 1nounted. This endless'conveyonyin this instance, ernbodies two endless chains each formed of a plurality of links 2, pivotally connected to-; gether at 3, the two chains in turn being con- -the pivots '3. The shaft 9'is 1 the invention assume an inclined the articles to the inspectingportion trons Fig. 2 is a side view of the machineillus' vided for receiving and;discharging sniall in parallel relation, eachrcller being jour --nalled at itsendsinfslotted bearings 5 inla link of each of the chains; and intermediate the pivotal connectionsofsuch links. The" endless conveyor. is supported on. thelfraine are extended outwardly fronig 'thellinks at g driven by-"a pulley 11 which turns-loosely on the shaft andQis 'adaptedto be connected and disconnectedwith the shaft through a clutch 12 operable'in any suitable manner, asbyra'.

hand lever 13. l't is apparent that turning of the'shaft 9 will effect the movement .oith'e endlessc'onveyor, clue to the tact-that the by aplurality of. notched discs oarranged [1n pairs on shafted, Sand 9, the'notches oi the discs receiving the projections l0which notched wheels 6 on said shaft connect with the chains of the conveyor through the pro jections l0.'; 5 y g j The shaft-s 8 and 9-are arranged substantially ina horizontal plane so that the upper lap of theconveyor, positioned between said shafts, presents the articles thereon in an eiie'ctiveway for inspection. ;The shaft 7; is

f arranged below the shafts 8 and 9so that after the conveyor travels between the shaft 9 and shaft '7, the upperlap thereofwill position and will carry any suitable source, such as a hopper 14 the articles to the elevating conveyor.

w1ich,through its inclined bottom 15, feeds portion of the under the uppermost lap ot'the conveyonjin f the elevating portion, is a' tahle or plate 16' which prevents the passage ofsn all-articles 7 between the rollers. This table jt'er ninatesf in the bottom wall 16 chute 17 which is beneath-and on opposite sides of the shaft 8, such chute being pro rarticles andother; extraneous matter. 'Therollers in the inclined portion-of the endless lconveyor, between the shafts 7' and projections :10 of the links 2 which {rideon side barsl? 'oi'the' trams; J-ust afteralie :roll;

ers pass the shaft 8 they are iven a rotary of a compartment 7 18,- do not rotate, as theyrare" held out of or turning movement. This is effected, in this instance, by providing two friction bars or plates 18 under the upper lap of the conveyor and extending from the shaft 8. The

rollers engage thesefriction bars or plates near their opposite ends and are caused to turn by such engagement, thus producing movement of the articles supported on the conveyor and, in fact, causingsaid articles to turn on the conveyor,

Two people, called sort'ers,-stand on opposite sides of the conveyor and pick off the undesirable articles. In this instance, the friction plates or bars 18 do not extend under the entire length of the inspecting portion of the conveyor, so that after the rollers pass off these plates or bars they stop rotating for a period. Later, however, the rollers cooperate with two other friction plates or 'bfars'19 arrangedunder the uppermost lap of the conveyor under" the inspecting portion and again the articles are agitated or turned due to the turning of the rollers by engagement therewith of the friction plates or bars. Two othersorters stand on the other side of the machine at this point to remove those defective articles which were "all not removed by the sorters at the forward part of the inspecting portion, The articles are discharged from the sorter just beyond the shaft 9 to any suitable receptacle or apparatus, such as a fruit grader, the receiving portion of which is indicated at 20.

Between the roller supporting bars 18 and 19 the conveyor is'prevented from sagging by the projections 10 on the chains riding on guiding or supporting pieces 1* carried by the side arms of the frame 1. The slotted bearings in the chains for the ends of the rollers 4 prevent binding of the rollers,

' insure rotation of the rollers during contact wth the su ortine bars 18 and 19, even though the surfaces of such bars become uneven, and also insure a more even travel of the chains.

The operation of the invention will be understood from the foregoing desc "iption, but it may be summarized as follows: Artioles such asfruit or vegetables are dumped in bulk into the hopper 1% from which they are guided onto the elevating portion of the endless conveyor and carriedupwardly on the non-rotating rollers until the receptacle or chute 17 is reached, when leaves, dirt or small articles fall through the spaces between the rollers 4 into such receptacle. The articles on the conveyor, after reaching the horizontal portion thereof, areagitated or turned due to the fact thatthe rollers 4 fictionally engage the plates or supporting barslS. iifterthe rollers pass off the bars 18 they stop rotating and consequently the articles stop moving on the conveyor, thus giving the sorters time to inspect them.

Later the articles are again rotated due to the engagement ofthe rollers 4 with the plates orsupporting bars 19, when the defective articles are removed by the sorters adjacent these bars. 7

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is :1

1. A sorting apparatus comprising an endless conveyor having a plurality of r0- tatably'mounted rollers arranged in parallel relation, means for guiding the conveyor to provide an elevating portion and an inspecting portion to which the articles are guided from the elevating portion, the rollers being nonrotating' on the elevating portion, and means for rotating the rollers on the inspecting portion.

2. A sorter comprising an endless conveyor embodying two chains ha 'ing pivotally connected links, thelinks being provided with slotted bearings between their pivots, rollers connecting the chains and journalled in said slotted bearings, and a surface arranged to cooperate with said rollers at a point in the travel of the conveyor for effecting the rotation of the rollers.

8. A. sorting apparatus comprising an endless conveyor, a plurality of rotatably mounted parallel rollers, means guiding-portions of the upper lap of 'said conveyor substantially in a horizontal plane and a por tion of the upper lap on an incline below said'horizontal portion, and means rotating rollers of the conveyor in the horizontally arranged portion without rotating those in the inclined portion.

4. A sorting apparatus comprising an endless conveyor, a plurality of rotatably mounted parallel rollers, means guiding portionsof the upper lap of said conveyor sub stantially in a horizontal plane and a portion of the upper lap on an incline below said horizontal portion, means rotating rollers of the conveyor in the horizontally arranged portion without rotating those in the inclined portion, a shield arranged under a part of the inclined portion, and a receptaole arranged under apart of the inclined' portion and also under a part of the horizontal P01111011, p

5. A sorting apparatus comprising an endless conveyor embodying two chains and journalled' in said slotted bearings,

' notched wheelsarranged in pairs and engageffecting rotation of therollers.

7. A sorting apparatus comprising an endless conveyor embodying two chains'hav- 7 ing pivotally connected links and projections at the pivotal connections of the links,

the links being formed with slotted bearings between pivots, rollers connecting the chains and journalled in said slotted-bearings,

notched wheels arranged in pairs and engaging the said projections, surfaces spaced roller engaging surfaces.

apart along the travel of the conveyor ar, ranged toicooperate with said rollers for effecting rotation of the rollers, and chain supporting guide members cooperating with said pro ect1ons and arranged along the travel of the conveyor intermediate the said 7 8. A sorting apparatus embodying an endless conveyor having parallelrotatable rollersand having its rupperflap guided in 7 a'substa ntially horizontal plane and also in an inclined plane below said horizontal plane, the rollers in the inclined portion being nonrotating, and means for effecting the rotation of rollers in the horizontalportion. o

' WI LIAM A. IOONTANTQ l 

